Generally, an air conditioner is an appliance for heating and cooling an indoor space. The air conditioner supplies cool air or hot air to the indoor space by operating a refrigerant cycle.
An air inlet provided in the form of a grille is disposed on a front surface of the air conditioner. An air outlet is formed on a side surface of the air conditioner. At this point, air introduced through the air inlet is discharged into the indoor space through the air outlet via a heat exchanger.
However, since the air inlet and outlet are perpendicularly disposed at the case, it is occurred airflow resistance and noise during the air conditioner is operated.
Since the air inlet provided in the form of the grille is disposed on the front surface of the air conditioner, the design of freedom of the air conditioner is significantly deteriorated.
Further, since the air inlet and the air outlet are fixed in the air conditioner, the air conditioner may not be sometimes installed at a specific place due to the limited air inlet and outlet directions.
Further, when the air conditioner is a wall-mounting type or a ceiling type, the air inlet is visually exposed. This deteriorates the outer appearance of the air conditioner. Furthermore, since foreign objects such as dusts contained in the air are adhered to the air inlet, the air inlet should be frequently cleaned since the air inlet is exposed.